The Why

This week was a pretty good week. We were able to have zone conference and watch Meet the Mormons! It was way good. Everyone should see it Mormon or not. I still learned something new from it, and it's just uplifting. Yep, that's my plug in it for that.

The big lesson of the week was Lori. She was the one we watched Finding Faith in Christ with. When we started teaching her she said that her biggest fear is that there's one true church and that she's in the wrong one. We taught her the Restoration and by the end she was a little overwhelmed. She said she was scared. I think she was scared because she knew this was her answer and that it would mean change. Most people don't like change. But it was a really great lesson! Over all it's a huge miracle! We're excited to teach her tomorrow and ask her what she thinks about what she's read!

So I thought it would be fun to do something a little different and do a 3 part segment. Part 1: The Why. Part 2: The Call. Part 3: The Unexpected.

So here's Part 1: The Why

Why did I choose to serve a mission?

The age changed happened and it was weird because all of the sudden this option was open to me. Of course it was a big decision so I put off thinking about it. I didn't want to go just because I COULD go. I told myself I wouldn't think about it for a month.

Before this I never wanted to go on a mission. The seemed scary (which they are!) and it didn't seem like me to go. People would always ask me if I was going to go and I'd say no, without hesitation. For mutual, when they had missionary activities I'd do them half heartedly because I "knew" I was never even going to serve.

Well exactly one month later I was at work washing dishes. A thought came into my mind. I can't remember the second half it it but the first part was "well on my mission, it'll be like this...." This thought scared me! I didn't say if, I said when. I looked at the calendar and it was exactly 1 month later. this thought came out of no where and I know it was by the spirit. I wasn't going to remember the date, but Heavenly Father sure did!

So I started thinking about it and talking to a few people. One of my good friends who I never ever thought would serve a mission decided to go, and she seemed SOO excited about it, that changed my perspective a little bit.

I didn't really announce to anyone in my family that I was planning on going. It was a big surprise when Dennis called a super random family council and started talking about saving for missions and how we're supposed to pay 1/2. I really don't think they were expecting me to go. It surprised them a little when I said I was really thinking about it and that it looked like I was going to go.

Oop. I forgot a big part. In the middle of all my thinking and pondering about a mission, I read my patriactchal blessing which was semi-neglected. After dusting it off... I read that I would serve as a full-time missionary, in the mission field. Heavenly Father really had to spell it out for me ;)

So I started my papers and saving even more. It's really interesting how my life just kind of lined up for a mission. It was really clear that I was supposed to go. I had exactly enough time to save 1/2, school just... well it probably wasn't the best way to do things but it worked out.

At first I wanted to come out to help people, and there were a lot of other cool benefits, like living outside of Utah, meeting new people, new friends, new food. A lot of temporal reasons.

While all those things do come from a mission, I've realized that there's even more and better reasons. The spiritual growth, I don't think I'd get anywhere close the where I am now spiritually, without my mission.

While I may not have changed very many lives or converted very many souls, I changed y life, and I became more converted. The mission was the best decision of my life. It's made me grow, and become someone I never thought I could be. It's helped me live up to my divine potentional It's going to help me for the rest of my life.

I've been able to see amazing miracles, and I've been able to help people come closer to Jesus Christ and help them access the Atonement. I've been able to see first hand exactly how much Heavenly Father loves all His children

I'm thankful everyday for this opportunity and privilege, I hope that for these next 2 months I will be more able to serve Heavenly Father, to be an instrument in His hands and help His children come closer to Him. He's shown me a lot of love and now I get to show other people that love. I get to help them experience that change that brings peace and happiness. I get a front row seat to the Atonement. I get to be a missionary.

Goat Head Stickers, Obedience, and Scripture Power!

And sometimes we play "try to figure out the picture"!

This week went pretty swell like. We were able to talk to a lot of people and find a lot of potential investigators! We've also spent a lot of time getting ready for a movie night. We're going to play the Testaments at the church and have popcorn and root beer floats. And then we're going to have a some people in the ward dressed up and be characters from the Book of Mormon. Kind of like Disneyland! Or Moroni's quest but not as cool.

 

We were walking around one morning and Sis. Morco walked through some weeds and ended up with a TON of goat heads in her skirt! So then we spent a little while picking them off, we started walking again and it was perfect timing to meet up with this guy that was just walking down the street. He wasn't interested but he was super nice and semi-willing to listen. It just helped my testimony grow a little more that everything really does happen for a reason. Even goat heads. You may never know the reason now, but eventually it will all make sense in the Eternal view of things.

 

I had another pretty cool experience but it was more of a personal thing. Earlier in the week I felt a stronger desire to be more obedient. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't breaking any rules, I just wanted to make sure to do everything right. Sometimes there are a lot of rules to keep track of. I really wasn't sure why this desire was there but it was.

 

Then came zone training (a big meeting with about 9 sets of missionaries) they announced that there was a rule change, that we could now only listen to hymns. Which is a pretty big deal for me. I LOVE my church music. They aren't necessarily hymns but they're still really good songs. But with this desire to be more obedient I was really being prepared to be able to follow this rule change. Everything really does happen for a reason. And while this is a hard rule to follow I know that I'll have help and receive even more blessings :) So I'm excited for the chance I have to be blessed even more than I already have. Which can be pretty hard to imagine sometimes!

 

Something else that has come up a lot is the power that comes through daily scripture reading. We have a recent convert and she hasn't really been doing it as diligently as she should. Well I think she's stopped completely. You could tell too, there was a whole different countenance about her, and what she was saying. But I know that there is power that comes through DAILY reading. Power that Heavenly Father is more than willing to give us. We just have to do our part. I know that the scriptures are here to guide us and help and comfort us, they are truly a gift for us in THIS day, not for the people back then (they didn't have a printing press, normal people didn't have access to them). I know the scriptures are true and will bless you!

 

Love you all!

Everyone is One of God's Creations, They're Who He Wanted Them to Be!

This week I learned a valuable lesson on not judging people. We were out contacting and there were these 2 teenage boys around 15 or so. I didn't want to talk to them because I really didn't think anything good would come out of it. I thought they were just going to talk to us because we were girls. The conversation was really hard at first. We didn't really know what to talk about at first. But then we started talking about the gospel and this 15 year old kid started crying a little bit when he was talking about how much he wanted to change his life. It was sweet. So we asked him if he would ask his mom if he could talk to us and be taught.

 

He ended up taking us up to talk to his mom, they were in the middle of a big move so they couldn't talk right then. But the mom seemed super excited to have us come over, she genuinely wanted us to come and teach her and her family. She told us that she knew it was important. They're moving out of our area. But there are missionaries everywhere and we have her number :)

 

The lesson I really learned from all this is that you really can't judge who is ready for the gospel and who isn't. It's really not our place to judge. Everyone has a divine potential and you really can't say who they are based on what they look like, or even what they've done in the past. But everyone is one of God's creations, they're who He wanted them to be.

 

The hard part is really applying the lesson. So this week my goal is, when I'm out talking to people that I will remember who they really are and what they really can become. The Atonement covers everything. So it's really not up to me to decide what the Atonement doesn't cover, or what people aren't ready for it.

 

This week I want to invite everyone to use the Atonement somehow, or to remember how the Atonement has blessed their lives. And then to invite someone else to either learn of the Atonement or a little more about Christ and His sacrifice. I know that as you do this you'll grow closer to Heavenly Father and to Jesus Christ and you're excitement to do missionary work and to share these blessing will increase!

You Never Really Know When The Spirit is Trying to Tell You Something!

Mom was slacking again - so lucky you, here's two letters in ONE!  What a deal!  :)  And we received her flight itinerary today!  December 10th it is!  More info to follow!!  (And with any luck at all, she and Lance MAY get to come home together on the same connecting flight! )

This week we were able and blessed to be able to do a lot of service, and we had a baptism! So it was a pretty good week overall!

 

The baptism went a lot better than we had thought it would. The only flaw was that we didn't have a chorister for the opening hymn, I never thought choristers were that important, but they are. The baptism ended up being half Spanish half English, a Spanglish baptism! Which i'm pretty convinced that's actually the city's language. Spanglish. Anyway, she was 9 years old and right after the baptism she came out in her dress and she just said "That was so cool! That was the coolest thing I've ever done!!" It was pretty cute to see.

 

Her older brothers were able to do the baptism and gave a talk! It was so cute to see how much they cared for their little sister. They were both really nervous and wanted to make sure that everything worked out well. And it did! It took them a little while to the whole hand holding part, but that's because he was so nervous. I'm really glad that I was able to be a part of this baptism!

 

The service opportunities this week were way cool! They just kept pouring in! We almost didn't have time to do them all. And now on top of moving, painting, party decorating, house cleaning, I can add wedding planner/decorator(helper) to the list! We helped someone make center pieces for her wedding reception. Well it was more just a reception because they were able to go to the temple to get sealed. They're a really cute couple and they were so excited to be able to be together for literally ever.

 

There were a lot of blessings that came from service, it didn't really show in our numbers but we were able to feel it. I love all the chances that I've been given to serve others. "When you are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." I'm grateful for all the chances I've been given to serve Heavenly Father by serving His children.

 

Love you all!

This week has been a pretty good week! We're slowly getting out of our dry spell of finding new investigators, this week we were able to find 3 more! Which is nice because a lot of our investigators keep moving or become not so interested anymore. So it's been pretty exciting to get some new people to teach!

 

This week I actually had a really cool experience. It started in the morning when I was studying. I was reading over the Plan of Salvation lesson, studying for an investigator, and when I got to the Spirit World I was reading it and a thought popped into my mind "we're going to need to really focus on this tonight for Yolanda since she had a son that passed away." Then I had a re-thought and it went something like "wait, we don't know that at all, she hasn't opened up to us in that way yet. We don't know anything about her kids." And then I just kind of moved away from the thought and didn't think much of it.

 

Fast forward to the lesson. We're sitting in the lesson... I forget exactly what we were teaching, I think it was about the Atonement. And Yolanda mentioned how she had a son pass away when he was just 11 days old because he was born premature. I was kind of shocked by this! Then I was able to focus a little more on the Spirit World than I normally would've.

 

After the lesson, just to make sure, I asked Sister Morco if we knew that she had a son that passed away, she told me that we had no idea and she never mentioned that before.

 

I learned a lot about the Spirit that day. It really does work in mysterious ways. By one thought popping to my head at the very beginning of the day I was able to teach what she needed to hear in the lesson. One little thought that sounded like my own, and that I thought was slightly crazy at first.

 

You never really now when the Spirit is trying to tell you something. That's why it is so important to always be ready to receive revelation like that. I know that the Spirit is really here to help us, and guide us, protect us and teach us, and so much more! I'm so thankful that I don't have to do this all alone, and go through life all alone. But that I was given the Spirit to help me and really lead me through life and all it's adventures.

 

I love you all and I hope that you have a good week!

Prayer can't change trials, but it can definitely give us the strength to get through them~

Well this week is kind of all a blur...

 

I'll start from yesterday. It's the end of the week so we have like no food. Our fridge had a piece of turkey and some cheese, and possibly a jicama. The freezer just had ice and grape otter pops. So we were kinda worried about dinner. Worried in a "we have to get creative" type of way. We had some pasta in the cupboard but it needed milk and butter. So we asked a member for some, well she told us that she's just going to take us to the store and get some. And from there just bought us a chicken, veggies, fruit, desert, everything!! It was a crazy miracle! I'm incredibly grateful for her help! We still would've eaten without her kindness, but it was still really appreciated. We are blessed.

 

That's the only real story I have. Everything else has just been normal missionary things. We're playing missionary survival this week. We kinda ran out of miles on our car. So we can't really use it until Friday. It's been exciting so far! It's really going to force us to talk to people and to be out, because well we can't really stay in the car because we don't have one! And we need to talk to more people because we're slowly losing investigators. But it's all good, because we're going to get more this week!

 

Oh! Actually we had exchanges this week. I ended up staying, so that was a little stressful taking over the area after just 5 weeks. But everything went surprisingly smooth. We got a new investigator! She seems pretty solid. It's actually a part member family. We taught her the restoration and she seems really excited to read the Book of Mormon! I'm excited to teach her more! She's sincerely interested in learning, which makes our job a lot easier!

 

Today I was studying Enos and I decided that he's probably the ultimate missionary. He was so converted that he would pray for the welfare of his enemies souls. I know I'm definitely not at that step yet. I also really like his example of prayer. He didn't pray for his own wants, or his own needs, but he really focused on others and what they needed. He needed the Lamanites to stop attacking them and to just have peace. The Lamanites needed the gospel, and Enos wanted them to have the gospel. His wills were in line with the Lord's wills.

There's a quote about prayer that President Miller sent to us:

 

 

"It takes great faith and courage to pray to our Heavenly Father, "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." The faith to believe in the Lord and endure brings great strength. Some may say if we have enough faith, we can sometimes change the circumstances that are causing our trials and tribulations. Is our faith to change circumstances, or is it to endure them? Faithful prayers may be offered to change or moderate events in our life, but we must always remember that when concluding each prayer, there is an understanding: "Thy will be done" (Matt. 26:42). Faith in the Lord includes trust in the Lord. The faith to endure well is faith based upon accepting the Lord's will and the lessons learned in the events that transpire." Elder Robert D. Hales

 

Prayer can't change trials or anything but it can definitely give us the strength to get through them. I've definitely seen that since I've been out.

 

Well I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

I May Not Know A Lot, But I Know God Answers Prayers~

Well this week was pretty great! We had a baptism! Krystal is 18 years old and the only one in her family taking lessons. She was really excited to get baptized. She is very very in tune with the spirit, her prayers are always my favorite part about meeting with her. They're so personal and you can just hear in her voice that she really cares what she's praying about.

 

We met with Krystal the night before her baptism, everything was set to go. The speakers were assigned, refreshments being baked, songs being practiced. The last lesson as an investigator was being taught. We asked her if her mom was going to come, she said she was way too scared to ask her mom about getting baptized. Keep in mind the baptism was the NEXT day. We tried to tell her that talking to her mom and telling her was the best thing and that she shouldn't wait any longer. Her little brother was in the mean time running back and forth telling her mom almost everything. She snapped at her brother than he started crying. The lesson was just a mess and I was expecting the mom to come out and just start yelling at everyone. We calmed everyone down and left with some spiritual thoughts. It was now up to Krystal to tell her mom.

 

I left that lesson with a slight doubt that she wouldn't tell her mom. We didn't feel comfortable with her getting baptized without her mom's knowledge or approval. We decided that night that we would fast for her.

 

The next morning, a very inspired sister in the ward asked if everything was set and if Krystal needed anything. We told her that we weren't exactly sure if she told her mom anything and we were waiting for her to reply to our text.

 

Maybe an hour later that same sister texted us and said "I just got back from meeting with Krystal's mom. She's ok with it and she's coming, I'm so excited! along with my sister and her non-member fiancé." We almost couldn't believe it. Number one that our fast we started the night before was answered so quickly, and that this Sister was that inspired and knew that she had to go over and talk with her mom.

 

We met this Sister at the baptism and she then told us the story in detail. We didn't know this but Krystal's dad is an excommunicated member and her mom used to go to church all the time with him. So she knew what it was all about, and she was comfortable with Krystal joining. We had no idea this whole time!

 

The baptism went smoothly, just as planned. The only hiccup was that we didn't set out the hymn books before so we had to run out and pass them out as they were singing haha.

 

I know that there is strength in praying and fasting, and that Heavenly Father really does care and answer those prayers. I'm so thankful for this sister and for her being so in tune with the spirit and being so inspired. The baptism definitely wouldn't have happened with out her! I may not know a lot, but I know God answers prayers.

 

I love you all! I hope you have the best week ever.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NERM!!!

Welcome to Real Del Puente!

Beautiful Real Del Puente!

Time for an update from (or more about) Elder Ririe!'

He is doing fantastic!  Email and snail mail has been a little sketchy lately, so we're having to compile info in bits and pieces.  He's latest transfer was to beautiful Real Del Puente. It's only about ten minutes from his last area (most likely calculated by walking distance) but he said the economic difference between the two areas is like night and day.  He's in what's considered to be a ritzy area.  He is serving with Elder Bingham from Utah and they also live with two of the zone leaders.  He's completely happy about that because they live in an actually house AND they have air conditioning!  He calls it the perks of being with the zone leaders!

The language is coming along awesome!  In fact, in his last letter he told Tanner that he'll probably end up writing it in Spanish, which he did!  Not sure if that was intentional or not, but we don't think it was and Tanner appreciated the heads up!

They've had 3 baptisms in the last few weeks with another one scheduled this Sunday.  When we ask him what the best part of his week was, he answers "teaching the lessons".  Most spiritual part of your week, "teaching".  Most fun you've had this week, "Teaching!!!!"  I gather he loves teaching the gospel!  This Sunday they are baptism two children from a family they've been teaching.  The mom was baptized a couple weeks ago.  He was so excited to be able to teach and baptize an entire family and watch their lives change before his eyes.  The mom is a single mom and had been out of work for a very long time.  She was able to get a very good job the day before her baptism and attributed it to following the teachings of Jesus Christ and committing to be baptized.  She invited the missionaries over that night to feast on tortillas and beans - the best meal her family had had in a very long time.  Hunter said it was very humbling to see the kids so excited over tortillas and beans.

He said he's getting somewhat used to the heat and humidity and he doesn't even notice it half the time now.  With the World Cup going on he said whenever there was a game on they had to stay in their apartments for most of the day.  He didn't like that very much, especially knowing a game was on that he couldn't watch!

He's a tiny bit homesick and has asked for letters!  Lots of letters!!!  He said the only one he hears from is from Mom!!  And he says that's getting kind of boring  (gee...thanks bud!)  LOL.   He would love to sign onto his email next week and see a different name in his inbox besides Mom!  ;)  hint hint!  For those of you preparing to leave on missions, remember this and get him a letter out!  Seriously, he would love to hear from everyone and he says letters help with feeling homesick.